CSUN WordmarkOviatt Library

CHS 151 Freshman Communication: Search Tips

Search Tips for Databases

Searching "in a database" is a different from searching OneSearch from the homepage of the library.  If you want to try more advanced search tips use some the suggestions below and select an article database from the Chicana and Chicano Studies subject area list.

  • Use double quotation marks (" ") around phrases to ensure they are searched exactly as is, with the words side by side in the same order.
    EXAMPLE:   "bye bye miss american pie"
    (Do NOT put quotation marks around a single word.)
     
  • Put your most important keywords first in the string.
    EXAMPLE:   dog breed family pet choose
     
  • Type keywords and phrases in lower case to find both lower and upper case versions. Typing capital letters will usually return only an exact match.
    EXAMPLE:   president retrieves both president and President
     
  • Use truncation (or stemming) and wildcards (e.g., *) to look for variations in spelling and word form.
    EXAMPLE:    librar* returns library, libraries, librarian, etc.
    EXAMPLE:    colo*r returns color (American spelling) and colour (British spelling)

Keywords for Chicanos

Information on the topic of Chicanas and Chicanos may be found using a variety of search terms combined with any or all of the following terms which can be used to identify a specific group:

 

  • "Mexican American" *
  • Mexican - American
  • Hispanic
  • Chicano
  • Chicana
  • Latino
  • Latina
  • Mexicano
  • Mexicana

*Some search terms like Mexican American require quotation marks. Quotation marks glue words together in the search -- in other words, these words will always be next to each other in your search results =  "Mexican American"